Evidence Code § 1101
E1030144
Evidence Code § 1101 is a key California evidence rule that generally prohibits using a person’s character or prior bad acts to prove conduct on a specific occasion, while allowing such evidence for limited purposes like proving motive, intent, or identity.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
California evidence statute
ⓘ
rule of evidence ⓘ |
| allowsExceptionFor |
absence of mistake
ⓘ
common plan or scheme ⓘ identity ⓘ intent ⓘ knowledge ⓘ motive ⓘ noncharacter purposes ⓘ opportunity ⓘ preparation ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
civil cases
ⓘ
criminal cases ⓘ |
| category | substantive admissibility rule ⓘ |
| citationForm | Evid. Code, § 1101 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| codifies | general prohibition on character evidence to prove conduct ⓘ |
| distinguishedFrom | rules governing impeachment by character evidence ⓘ |
| frameworkFor | admitting evidence of uncharged misconduct ⓘ |
| governs |
admissibility of character evidence
ⓘ
admissibility of prior bad acts evidence ⓘ |
| influencedBy | common law rules on character evidence ⓘ |
| interactsWith | California jury instructions on prior acts evidence ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| languageIncludes |
evidence of a person’s character or a trait of his or her character
ⓘ
evidence of specific instances of conduct ⓘ |
| limits | use of other crimes evidence ⓘ |
| objective | to focus the jury on relevant, nonpropensity inferences ⓘ |
| partOf | California Evidence Code NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| permits | use of prior bad acts to prove specific facts in issue ⓘ |
| policyBasis |
fairness in adjudication
ⓘ
reliability of verdicts ⓘ |
| primaryRule |
character evidence is inadmissible to prove conduct on a specific occasion
ⓘ
evidence of a person’s disposition is inadmissible to prove conduct on a specific occasion ⓘ |
| prohibits | use of prior bad acts solely to show propensity ⓘ |
| protects |
civil litigants from unfair character attacks
ⓘ
criminal defendants from unfair character attacks ⓘ |
| purposeOfProhibition |
to avoid confusing the issues
ⓘ
to limit undue consumption of time ⓘ to prevent propensity reasoning ⓘ to reduce unfair prejudice ⓘ |
| relatedTo | Evidence Code § 352 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| requires |
balancing of probative value and prejudicial effect under Evidence Code § 352
ⓘ
trial court to distinguish between character and noncharacter purposes ⓘ |
| subjectOf | California appellate case law interpretation ⓘ |
| usedBy |
California Supreme Court
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
California appellate courts NERFINISHED ⓘ California trial courts NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.